Allo Alphonse

Finally the Irons have signed someone and it's a good start. Alphonse Areola looked a fine goalkeeper with Fulham last season and although the Cottagers went down, defensively they looked sound and Areola was their player of the year. He's on loan from PSG for a season with an option to buy, so it could be he solves the problem of who will replace the 36-year-old Lucasz Fabianski. He's not quite the World Cup winner that the WHU website claims, though he was in the French World Cup winning squad as understudy to Lloris and has made 75 appearances for PSG. Having two quality goalkeepers competing for the number one spot and Darren Randolph in reserve should see us well off in the keeping department.  

Meanwhile the latest rumour is that Moyes is after Chelsea's Kurt Zouma, although a £20m offer surely won't get him. But another quality player with good experience on loan at Stoke and Everton. Czech midfielder Alex Kral is another possibility. Hopefully we'll get three or four in before the window closes.

Celtic soul brothers

An encouraging pre-season so far with the Irons scoring six at Celtic yesterday. We can't read too much into it, though it was good to see the great dummy Benrahma sold the Celtic defender before his goal. Antonio got a brace, though as ever we won't be able to rely on his hamstrings all season. Also nice to see young signing Armstrong Oko-Flex (whose surname sounds rather like an extension lead for my laptop) score against his former club. He could be one for the future. Conor Coventry has also been getting some pre-season games and is looking stronger and might be a useful squad player.

Even without Lingard it looked like the Hammers could field a strong first X1 but we're going to need a much bigger squad this season. Moves for WBA's Johnstone or former Fulham loanee Areola from PSG are on the right lines to finding a successor to Fabianski. But we still need another centre back, a central midfielder, maybe a winger and definitely two new strikers to back-up Antonio (Harry Kane might be a bit pricey at £160m though I'm sure David Sullivan might make a late bid for £10 million). And of course we have to keep Declan Rice. So plenty to work on before the window closes on Aug 31.

Farewell Felipe

So Felipe Anderson, who cost £36 million, has returned to Lazio for an undisclosed fee, though some sources say it's as low as £4 million (and perhaps we still owe Lazio some of the original transfer fee). Whatever the fee it's another massive hit on a Pellegrini signing, having lost £25 million on Sebastien Haller. While there are also Jack Wilshere's wages to consider. 

I still feel we should have tried to get more out of him. Anderson had talent as his great form two seasons ago showed. Eleven league goals that season produced some great moments, his run from his own half to score at Southampton, a great chipped goal against Crystal Palace, the equaliser at Old Trafford. Something went badly wrong the next season though, he seemed to lose all confidence and was never suited to playing in a relegation-threatened side, despite getting a number of games under Moyes. Last season's loan at Porto was a disappointment too. Were there off-the-field issues? Or was he just unsuited to the pace of PL football?

As Moyes has said, the days of transfer disasters need to end. Pellegrini's splurge has proved very poor business and hopefully under the Moyesiah we now only sign players who retain their value.

It's not coming home

Still proud of Declan Rice for his performance last night and it was a strange decision to substitute him late on as he was one of England's best players, along with Pickford. Declan certainly proved he could compete against top class players like Jorginho, Chiesa and Verratti. And his tears at the end showed just what it meant to him. At least not being on the pitch meant he didn't have a penalty. The new season will soon be with us and there will be fresh opportunities for Rice. He's played in a European Championship Final at 22 and can only get better. So let's go out there and win something with the Irons...

Will the London Stadium start to feel like home?

It now seems there will be full crowds at the London Stadium next season, the third wave of Covid permitting. One thing I noticed at the West Ham versus Southampton game was that the squared off ends did make a difference and made the stadium feel a little more intimate. 

It's now five years since WHU left Upton Park. It still hurts, but after a year and a half without any live football fans are going to be noisy and glad to be back in any sort of stadium. And West Ham will be returning as a side that finished sixth and made it into the Europa League. We've never had a successful team at the London Stadium before so it should make a difference. Next season will feel like a new start and the corporate bowl might finally start to feel like home.